This invention relates to a method of electromagnetically accelerating flying bodies which can shoot flying bodies at a superhigh speed and which can be implemented at a low running cost without requiring any gigantic equipment.
For example, rockets and artificial satellites which travel outer space are constantly exposed to the danger of bumping against meteorites and dusts flying at very high speeds (e.g. 50 km/sec) through the space. Thus, in order to simulate the bumping of a rocket against such high-speed flying matters on the ground so as to test how the rocket might be damaged, bump tests, in which high-speed flying bodies are allowed to impinge upon an object to be tested, are carried out. Impact tests using high-speed flying bodies are also carried out frequently in developing new materials so as to test their physical properties. Meanwhile, examples of apparatus for accelerating and shooting flying bodies at a high speed against the object to be tested are, for example, a high-pressure gas gun which shoots various types of solid flying bodies from a barrel-like pipe thereof by releasing at once the compressed of a high-pressure gas, a powder gun, as well as, a rail gun and a plasma gun which resort to the principle of electromagnetic acceleration.
However, the speed of the flying body shot by such high-pressure gas gun, which may depend on the degree of compression of the high-pressure gas employed, is far from those of the high-speed flying matters which are possible to bump against vessels such as rockets traveling through outer space (e.g. 50 km/sec) or those of the high-speed flying bodies required for testing the physical properties of new materials (e.g. 10 km/sec). Accordingly, the high-pressure gas gun is not employable for the simulation tests on the ground. As the apparatus which can shoot flying bodies at much higher speeds than by the high-pressure gas gun, the above-described powder gun, rail gun, plasma gun, etc. are known. It is possible to shoot flying bodies at a high speed of about 10 km/sec using these guns based on the principle of electromagnetic acceleration, but such speed is far from reaching the superhigh speed of meteorites, dusts, etc. flying through outer space (e.g. 50 km/sec). Further, the rail gun and plasma gun involve problems in that they require long rails, and thus the scale of the equipment is enlarged, and that the rails are fused by sparks to be unusable each time the guns are used, leading to extremely increased running cost.
This invention is proposed in view of many problems inherent in the prior art means for accelerating high-speed flying bodies and in order to solve them suitably. It is an objective of the invention to provide a method of accelerating flying bodies which enables shooting flying bodies at a speed comparable to the level attainable by the rail gun, and which can be implemented at a low running cost without requiring any gigantic equipment, as well as, an apparatus therefor.